Is the Bowler Land Rover the butchest race vehicle on the planet?

The Defender Challenge race series gets a spec car.

Despite Land Rover not selling Defender 90s in the US for years and Bowler not having a North American presence at all, the combination has managed to attract a cult following thanks largely to Richard Hammond's antics on Top Gear. Bowler has been modifying Land Rovers for about 25 years, and while they're independent, they're following a trajectory like AMG and Mercedes, with an ever more cordial relationship. This has culminated in a factory offering, the sort-of-unnamed "Defender Challenge rally car," built specifically for the upcoming seven-race 2014 Defender Challenge ("by Bowler") race series.

Unlike the other rather extreme offerings from Bowler, the $250,000 tube-frame V8 EXRs, the Defender Challenge rally car stays a largely unmodified Defender 90 hardtop. Power is from a tuned 175-hp 332 ft-lb 2.2-liter diesel with a six-speed, so these are not going to be fast, but they will be cheap to run. Other major upgrades include a full MSA/FIA-certified roll cage, a fire extinguisher, racing seats and harnesses, Bowler wheels, and a Bowler racing suspension. They'll cost $82,324, entry into the series is $16,475, and a $24,700 full-season trackside support package is available. You do own your Defender, however, and it's even road legal. Bowler says that entry into the series may qualify you and your Defender for Dakar, and they'll help you with entry into other European and African rallies.

If it all sounds expensive, well, it is. However, start spec'ing out a Diesel Wrangler conversion from someone like Bruiser, and you're not going to have much trouble heading toward Bowler territory by the time you build a rig this good. Someone desperately needs to bring a version of this race series here, because this must be the most all-around capable factory offroader—and, let's face it, best-looking—in the world.

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